Entitlement comes easily

Recently, I’ve been thinking about entitlement and how easy it is for people to go from realizing that people are doing them a favour to feeling like they’re owed. I’ve noticed this behavioural change in a lot of people over a period of time; from siblings to friends.

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The first mode of contact with entitlement usually starts with parents. Quite often, we tend to feel like our parents owe us a lot and understandably so because we didn’t ask to be born, they’re the ones who didn’t use protection.

However, as an adult, it’s safe to say they’ve made their mistake already by bringing you here and paid their dues by getting you through the first couple of years of your life and now it’s your turn to look up and navigate this world that you never begged to be in in the first place.

While I know that this is a somewhat unkind way of explaining growth, it is, in fact, what it is and what every human has to deal with. Entitlement comes in, for a lot of adults, when they begin to feel like those years their parents did everything for them were not enough and that their adult years could be better if their parents did a little more for them.

Maybe they’re right, but most likely, they’re wrong. Your parents, much like you, didn’t ask to be here. We’re all just some cycle of mistakes and bad decisions born at different times and that’s okay.

It’s so easy to feel like you’re owed things when you’re really not. I didn’t realize how easy it was to feel that way until recently when I began to receive a lot of stuff from friends and some family without asking.

As a last child, I’m naturally predisposed to entitlement. That feel like I came to this planet to be taken care of by my older siblings until the day I die and to be loved by all whether they want to or not. Unfortunately, I got a reality check quite early and I’m glad I did.

I’ve never considered what’s not mine to be mine and neither have I felt like what’s given to me was given out of duty. As a matter of fact, when I receive at a point where I can’t give back, I feel like a freeloader.

My pride as a human stems from my ability to have on my own and give freely without thought. Thankfully, I’ve done that for a while but recently I’ve found myself at a point where I’m unable to do that to my satisfaction and it causes me an intense amount of pain even though I know it’s all temporary.

I’ve been thinking about how easy it is to become entitled as I’ve been on the receiving end from my friends and the few family members who know just how bad things have gotten with me. However, with all this, all I feel is guilt. A pain in my chest when people realize I have a need even when I don’t ask and they respond swiftly.

It’s safe to say that I’ve been blessed but even wells run dry sometimes. I can’t imagine myself in a situation where I have to ask and then I come off as ungrateful because of all that has already been done for me. You could say that’s my biggest fear.

I know this may never happen because I’ve always managed to cover my ass in my darkest moments but it’s still a fear that keeps me going and helps me stay focused on my goal to always be relevant.

About Me

Hi, my name is Karina and I'm a Product Designer and Technical Writer. I love to write about my design process and random cool ideas I have as they come. I'm also always job hunting and looking out for projects I can collaborate on so if you'd like to work on something together, you can contact me and also check out my portfolio;
Email: [email protected]
Portfolio: https://www.behance.net/karinalovet

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